7.4: Ethical Decision-making

From the previous discussion, it is clear that ethical decision-making can be complicated. It should be informed by principles such as truth, journalistic independence, fairness, humanity, accountability, as well as concern for minorities, privacy, and the right of reply. There are press codes and laws to guide you. But even with all these guidelines and principles, ethical decision-making can be difficult. How, then, can journalists possibly make good ethical decisions when faced with personal beliefs that clash with their story or the possibility of harming someone through their story? Some situations are best dealt with by avoiding them in the first place. For example, journalists may choose not to belong to any outside groups, or they may disqualify themselves from covering stories involving any groups they do belong to, or stories that cover topics where they hold very strong personal views. Most news editors would understand if you explain the situation.

In other cases, a journalist must always find the best possible balance between their own conflicting principles and the story, always keeping in mind that, as journalists, their role remains to seek the truth and serve the public. Fortunately, there are also structures and codes of conduct in place in newsrooms to help you with difficult decisions. You do not have to make these decisions alone.

Some newsrooms deal with ethical quandaries from the top down.¹⁴ Whenever an issue or dilemma arises, a senior manager will help you decide what to do. This approach has the advantage of being quick, but it can be arbitrary. It does nothing to help journalists make good decisions when they are out in the field or when the manager is unavailable. Hence, many newsrooms have adopted an ethical decision-making process that is more inclusive and that helps all journalists make good decisions under different circumstances.

The first step in the process is to define the dilemma. Most people recognise when they are facing an ethical quandary. Something makes you feel that there is a problem; it just does not feel quite right. When this happens, you should step back and think about it. What is it about the situation that makes you uncomfortable? Why do you feel something is wrong? Do not be afraid to listen to your own moral code at this point. Your own moral code is usually the first thing that warns you that something is wrong. Then think about the situation professionally. What are the ethical values that may be compromised if you do the story? What journalistic issues are at stake? Often, there is tension between a journalistic goal and an ethical stand. The journalist who has an exclusive story may want to rush it into print before anyone else gets it, but they also need to consider the possible consequences. What if the story turns out to be wrong? What if you destroy someone’s life by publishing false information about them, just to get the story out because your news editor told you to get the story? You should never sacrifice your ethical values to achieve other objectives, such as beating the competition.

The next step after defining the problem is to collect more information to help you make a good decision. Consult newsroom policies, codes of conduct and guidelines, if any exist, and talk to others about the dilemma. Begin with colleagues and supervisors in the newsroom, but do not stop there. It is often useful to include other voices, people who are not directly involved in the story, but who are knowledgeable about the circumstances.

It is important to note that journalists, unlike doctors, are not expected to promise to do no harm. Many truthful and important stories may hurt people’s feelings or reputations. It is inevitable. But journalists do try to minimise the harm by not putting people at unnecessary risk. Imagine you were the one people were writing about, how would you feel? Once you have evaluated all the information, spoken to colleagues, looked at your organisation’s code of conduct, you will be able to make an informed decision.

Potter (2006) provides the following example: Say a reporter has discovered a factory in a country where boys under the age of 12 work 10 hours a day, six days a week, and are paid less than half the country’s minimum wage. The country’s Constitution prohibits employers from hiring anyone under 16, and it is illegal for anyone to work more than 45 hours a week. Finding the factory means the reporter has proof of child exploitation, but what more does the reporter need to know before publishing or broadcasting the story?

Telling the truth about the factory would certainly have consequences, and some of them could be hurtful. When faced with this kind of story, it can be helpful to create a list of people and institutions that might be affected by the story and to consider the impact the story might have. The story about the factory would affect the boys directly, of course, but it would also affect their families and the factory owner. The families of the boys may lose their income. The community may reject the factory owner’s family. Knowing the possible consequences, journalists can begin to look at alternatives for presenting the information, so the story remains truthful but does not cause as much harm. In the case of the factory, the journalist might decide not to use photos of the children and not to name them, because it would be illegal and may harm them, but the story will still be told in words.

The graphic below explains the steps you can take to make ethical decisions as a journalist:

The example of the factory discussed above is just onne example of a journalistic decision that can have ethical consequences. Others include the type of coverage, how you place stories on a page or website, as well as the tone of the story.

Even headlines can have ethical consequences. The impact of a front-page story with a large headline and a large photograph is much bigger than a smaller story on one of the inside pages. A television story that is promoted multiple times before it airs would have more impact and, therefore, greater ethical consequences than a story told once in the middle of a newscast. Headlines or leads in video news must always reflect the story accurately. Sometimes, headlines are misleading to attract readers, but this is unethical. For example, a story about a slight increase in covid-19-positive cases should not have a headline that says “covid-19 shock”. Such a headline would be misleading.

Whenever journalists and editors make decisions about ethical dilemmas, they should justify their decisions, if only to themselves. But by explaining to readers what was done and why, journalists are also able to bolster their credibility and justify the public’s trust in them. It is, therefore, also essential to keep records of decisions and records of source material for the story if anyone were to ask questions later. Newsrooms that value ethical decision-making make sure these kinds of issues are discussed regularly and not just when a dilemma occurs. Journalists should participate in these discussions with an open mind and learn. This way it would be easier to make ethical decisions when you are faced with an ethical dilemma yourself.

Reference

14. Parts of this chapter were adapted from a public domain textbook by the United States Department of State, The Handbook of Independent Journalism, written by Deborah Potter (2006), available at: https://ufdc.ufl.edu/ AA00011644/00001/pdf, Public Domain.